


Presence

by SecondSilk



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/F, Post Objects in Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 22:19:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecondSilk/pseuds/SecondSilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People effect you. It doesn't always matter how close they are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Presence

“We killed him.”

“Who, sweetie?”

“Early. He’s dead because he met us. He found Serenity and it killed him.”

“It was him or you, River. It was not a choice.”

“If we do not chose our actions, then we do not own them.”

 

River’s touch was tentative. Her fingers brushed Kaylee’s cheek, carefully pushing her hair back, but not quite over her ears. Kaylee smiled at that, the pleasure of the touch finally beginning to overcome her nerves. River took a step forward, closing the distance between them, and pressed her cheek to Kaylee’s. Kaylee closed her eyes. River’s skin was smooth, and her cheeks soft. Kaylee could hear her intake of breath and her lips quirked in a smile again. The draw of air against her cheek tickled, and she was sure that River was smelling her. River’s nose was against her jaw, and then her neck. Kaylee finally raised a hand to touch River, her fingers curling over River’s shoulder.

 

“We should say goodbye to him.”

“Early?”

“It is right that we remember him. He is gone. He is on a different journey, now, and we should light his way.”

“What do you want, River?”

“We have candles. We can light a candle, light his journey, watch it burn to nothingness.”

“Be careful with the matches.”

“You can’t light up the black. Not even with stars.”

 

River hummed against Kaylee’s neck. Kaylee ran her hand over River’s skin and into her already tangled hair. She could feel River smile. Then River kissed her, a sweet tentative press of cold lips on her collarbone. Kaylee felt her breath catch in her chest and her hand pulled on River’s hair. Her other hand caught River’s waist, fingers finding their way under the hem of her shirt and over her hip. She paused there, so clearly aware of how they stood and who they were. But River kissed her neck again, lips and tongue slowly exploring her jaw. Kaylee had to trust River, trust that she knew who and where she was, trust that she would not do anything she did not want to. None of that was difficult.

 

“He could not have hurt you.”

“River.”

“Serenity would have protected you. You are her heart. Even a ship can’t live without a heart.”

“River.”

“I wish I could be her. She knows how she is. She knows what she is for.”

“River.”

“She has you to care for her.”

 

River pulled back just far enough to look at Kaylee. Kaylee smiled, feeling a little bit cheeky and more uncertain. But River’s careful scrutiny made her shiver in the good way. Even this close, with her hazel eyes scanning her face, River made Kaylee feel special, made her aware of her whole body. And with one quick movement River kissed her on the lips. Kaylee kissed her back with sudden heat. River was smiling as her lips skated against Kaylee’s. Kaylee almost laughed at the mix of playfulness and examination in River’s kisses. But the care with which River treated her moved her too deeply to make any sound. It felt as though River were everywhere, and it was just the two of them in the whole ship.

 

“I am not here.”

“You are, okay, you’re River. You’re here, with me, I’m your friend.”

“Not here, not with you. There are too many people. I’m too many people. Not people – things. I’m too many things.”

“You’re River. You’re just a girl.”

“Girl, river, weapon, fight, disappear, flow. Can’t cross the same river twice. I disappeared.”

“Shhh. You came back. It's just us here. You and me.”

“I was Serenity.”

 

River pushed Kaylee’s top off her shoulders. Kaylee shivered as though the exposure chilled her. River deliberately licked her lips. She ducked her head and looked up at Kaylee through her eyelashes and a long curtain of hair. Kaylee raised a hand to push River’s hair back over her shoulder. She was smiling, cheeky and knowing and still unsure. Kaylee felt again the bubble of delighted laughter. She cupped River’s cheek to draw her close enough to kiss. And this kiss was feverish; this was the kiss that crossed the line. Kaylee recognised it, having crossed the line before. She might have paused because this was River and therefore new and different. But River’s fingers stroked Kaylee’s skin as though it were something new, and she shivered when Kaylee touched her, and Kaylee couldn’t stop.

 

“Tell me a story.”

“What sort of story?”

“A story about you, about being you. Or a story about a boy and being you with a boy.”

“You want to hear one of those kinds of stories?”

“Yes. Tell me what I can do. Tell me what my body can do when I am there and it is not killing.”

“Oh, River, sweetie.”

“Can you show me?”

 

River removed Kaylee’s clothes piece by piece. It was like being unwrapped, or discovered. River explored the way each article of clothing covered Kaylee’s body, and explored the skin that was exposed with scientific care. Kaylee closed her eyes, revelling in the sensation of touch. She opened them again when River stepped back. River stepped out her own clothes with false carelessness, watching the way Kaylee watched her. River manoeuvred them back onto her bed. Kaylee did laugh then, as she fell back against River’s pillow. River was looking at her like she didn’t understand where she was, or like she didn’t know what was supposed to happen next. But her movements had all the grace and confidence of the dancer and the fighter. Kaylee arched into her touch and reached out to pull River close to her, breast to breast and searching hands.

 

“There are so many stars in the world.”

“Thousands, millions, billions.”

“Even if you lived forever, you could not name them all.”

“You’d run out of names.”

“They wouldn’t mind if they all had the same name. Balls of burning gas don’t know about names. Names are human things.”

“My daddy let me name his cats.”

“Cats are wise. They never speak to us.”

 

River wrapped her body around Kaylee’s. Kaylee was warm where River pressed against her. But as her breathing slowed and heart rate settled, her uncovered skin came up in gooseflesh. River, moving slowly and confidently, reached over Kaylee to pull the blanket over them. She tucked herself back along Kaylee’s side, and Kaylee wrapped her arms around her. Part of Kaylee still felt that River needed protection, that she needed to be treated carefully. But Kaylee knew that she was holding on to River’s strength. She knew that, having taught River the last of the things she did not know, River could anything. And Kaylee was thankful to still be needed, was glad of the chance to cuddle against a warm body and to in the confidence that swam through River.

 

“I am River.”

“That you are.”

“All of me, from my hair to my toenails and every part in between.”

“Absolutely. Every inch of you.”

“I can feel it. I can feel me. I can feel my whole body. It is mine.”

“Ain’t no one can take it from you ‘less you let them.”

“No more disappearing.”


End file.
